Karen Martin

Thanks, Lorraine.  I will look into that idea.    Karen

Barry, gotta love your solution to the taste of tonic water!!  Karen

I too have chest cramps and am surprised to hear how many others also suffer them, mainly on the right side.  I also try to stay hydrated, use tonic water (max 6 ozs,), massage and stretching.  For you ladies out there, I also find it helps to unfasten/loosen my bra. (Sorry, guys.)   For the foot and leg cramps, I find keeping my lower legs war…[Read more]

There has been discussion in our Better Breathers Group about how much CO2 certain foods create, too, which might be part of the problem you are having.  It also interferes with how much oxygen is getting to your body.  Karen

Hey, Samantha.  I think you are being realistic when you say you will try to scale back and ask for help more, but that it may not happen because of the way you feel about Christmas.  Until we get there, we don’t really know what we will do!  I am sure your husband appreciates all you do for him at Christmas and every other day.  Our car…[Read more]

Years ago, when my daughters were small, I read a “helpful hint” in a “woman’s” magazine that said we teach our families what to expect.  And when the kids come home from school saying that “so-and-so does this”, you tell them “that is not our house.”  I think the same thing applies here, but we have taught ourselves what to expect.  I still sen…[Read more]

Charlene, I am glad to hear someone else was helped by pineapple.  Thanks for letting me know.  Karen

My daughter found an article that said pineapple juice is helpful in cutting the production of phlegm.  It is the bromelain in it that does the job.  It does help me, although I know some people have trouble with stomach issues and the acid involved.  Diabetics would want to factor in the sugar in it.  I hope this might help someone out there.  Karen

Hello, Mark.  Had my PET done and it came back normal!  Talk about a wonderful Christmas present!!   I appreciate all of the support I receive here.  Just knowing there are so many others out there going through the same things and more helps.  Belated happy lungaversary, too!  What a wonderful milestone.  🙂  Karen

I was born in Cleveland and lived the first 17 years of my life in the near area.  I am wondering what you are using for oxygen when you go out.  I have to use an e-tank and I find that both the tank and the tubing get really cold very quickly, even though I now live in Virginia.  If you are using this type of equipment, what are your st…[Read more]

@kristin-andrews

Kristin, I hope some of the suggestions you have gotten are helpful.  This is all a “work in progress” sort of thing for everyone, I think.  You just go from day to day, doing your best and trying to learn what works.  This is a great place to “meet” with others.  You are smart to ask for things your mom can do at home bec…[Read more]

Hello, Mark.  CT shows the nodule is about a centimeter in size now and my esophagus is slightly thickened.  Also have some enlargement of the lymph nodes in my chest.  Hoping that might be due to a cold I am still getting over.  At any rate, we will be doing a PET scan and a scope on the esophagus.  Right now I am concentrating on Chri…[Read more]

@mark-koziol, I am 69 and also have a nodule (7mm) on my lung.  In fact, I have a CT with contrast scheduled this afternoon to try to determine if it is grownin.  I have been seen at Duke in NC and was told they don’t necessarily focus on age, which is great, but I have been ambivalent about a transplant for many reasons.  This all has me th…[Read more]

@bill-cusack

This is not just wrong, it is downright criminal!  I am sorry to hear this.  I use E-tanks as my getting-around mode and the driver told me that there is a large tank that will last about 48 hours at 4lpm.  I don’t know if you can get that from your supplier or not, but if you are going to end up having to pay for something it mi…[Read more]

@kristin-andrews

Kristin, I hope you are still checking in from time to time.  Your questions about helping your mom have stayed on my mind and I was hoping to offer some advice that might help you in caring for her.  You said it is hard to help her wash and dress while she is wearing her oxygen.  I don’t know how ambulatory she is or how mu…[Read more]

Hi, Bill.  That is a LOT of information!!  Many thanks for all of it.  Someone else had told me about LOX, but I haven’t looked into it just yet.  Sounds as if I really need to do that.  When you say Medicare doesn’t pay well for it, does that mean it is harder for a patient to get them to accept a script for it?

I can certainly tell the diff…[Read more]

Thank you, Mark.  I appreciate your comments.  I know there are others out there with much more difficult situations than mine, so I try to stay positive.  My late husband had a great sense of humor about such things and I think some of it rubbed off on me.  Again, thank you for your kind remarks.

I have people ask me often if I wouldn’t like to have a poc.  Of course, I would, but I am like Mark and need mor oxygen than they can provide and at a continuous flow.  I struggled with that for a while as I think we all struggle with various stages of this.  Some of my friends suggested I should knit a cover for the tank (which you cannot do) be…[Read more]